Lies
by EvilTulip
Summary: Something that may put the lab's integrity in danger... Pre Lost Son. This is actually the first ever fanfic I ever wrote and wanted to post it now, so please don't judge me too hard on it. T for language.
1. Prologue

**Note:** This story is created by me, based on the history of my RPG character at a CSI fan site. I put it here, in the CSI:Miami section, because it's set in Miami and because the main character Sam works there.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the Miami character. I wish I did. I do own Sam and James, but I don't own Zora because she's the RPG character of someone else. Though I think that person won't mind I used her.

**LIES**

**Prologue**

Sam smiled at James, who sat next to her at the table.  
James stroke a strand of Sam's hair behind her ear.  
Morning sunshine created golden beams through the blinds.  
"You already have to go?" James asked. Sam nodded.  
"I guess so. Someone's gotta make a living" she answered.  
"Hmm. Yeah. You're right" James laughed. Sam never seemed to wonder how he could afford his expensive lifestyle.  
Sam picked up the breakfast plates and put them in the sink.  
"Jimmy, will you put them in the dishwasher in a minute? I really gotta get prepared for work" she said, while she started to notice red droplets in the sink. "Jimmy, what are those red drops in the sink?"  
James laughed again. Sam never liked his laughter. "Oh Sam, why are you so over-concerned? I cut myself yesterday; those damn kitchen knives never do what I want them to do. Nothing to be worried about."  
Being an employee of the Miami-Dade Crime Lab, Sam should have noticed there were way too much droplets for someone who just cut his finger. And that James didn't have no cuts at all. She did indeed notice it. But she was too afraid of James to say something.


	2. Chapter I

**I**

Sam closed the front door and sighed, relieved to be free of her fear for the next eight hours. She knew James was involved in organized crime, but she also knew that the first person he had ever killed had been a victim in an unsolved murder and the lab couldn't even identify the victim. She could become his second victim as soon as she started talking. Sure, he had hooked up with her just to have a contact in law enforcement. But Sam couldn't do a thing against the fear he created in her. She knew her colleagues would understand and even take care of business if she told them. Especially Zora and their supervisor Horatio Caine.  
But IAB could request her to leave.   
Even though there wasn't a city in the world she loved more than Miami.  
Working as a QD lab tech in the Miami-Dade Crime Lab was a very demanding and tiring job, but for Sam, it was a welcome change, a welcome distraction from James. Damn him.  
When everything goes totally straightforward, something has to hold you back from kamikaze.  
Sam's life hadn't been a misery; in fact, no life could have been more enjoyable. Sure, her parents divorced when she was only fourteen, but her mom, who was an doctor, MD, decided they should move to Miami because she could get a better job here.  
Sam nor her brother ever minded.  
Home was cosy, high school was fun. Good grades, fun friends, nice hobbies... what more could anyone want? College and university she also passed smoothly. Sam couldn't even find the smallest thing to complain about on her first three years at the lab. Until she met James Costero a year ago, at a party of one of Sam's brother's rich friends. She thought she had fallen in love with him, but she was actually scared of him. She had realised that only a month ago. It had taken twenty-six years to build her life and career to what it had been. It took just a year to destroy most of it.


	3. Chapter II

**II**

Clouds sticked together above Sam's head, looking like the freaking hurricane season had arrived a few months early, even though it was April. She knew that if the clouds didn't clear soon, rain would fall down without any end. There were few things Sam hated more than rain. She hurried to her car and started the ignition. The sooner she got away from James, the better. Sam knew she really should tell Horatio. But that meant putting the lab in an unnecessary danger, because it would James a hell of an excuse to take care of Horatio and earn even more respect in the world of criminal business.  
Sam drove all the way along Tamiami Trail and Ocean Drive, she crossed Collins Avenue and Dolphin Drive until she finally reached the lab. Living in Coconut Grove between a lot of elderly people was peacefull, but a hell of a drive to work - the Everglades were closer. Though it still surprised her when an alligator enjoyed the backyard swimmingpool more than the glades.  
Sam parked the car and crossed the star made at the end of the dead-end street. The clouds had cleared again and the sun shone on the star. Sam loved the star. Made from stones in different shades of grey and white and red it had something old fashioned, like the marble floors in old libraries. She walked up the steps, opened the glass doors, greeted the girl behind the front desk and got in to the elevator. In her own lab, she put on the white lab coat and latex gloves and started with the envelope lying on her desk.  
New envelopes usually meant new cases. This one also did. It was signed by TS, which meant Tim Speedle. Speed. Sam could really get along with Speed. Friends, nothing more. Sam opened the envelope by making a new cut in it.  
Sam was shocked when she read the note.   
_I can't do it no more. I'll be gone now. Forgive me, Samantha. O'Connor._  
At first glance it looked like a suicide note. Though there was no trembling, suggesting it was written by someone else than the one who died. It looked like it was directed at a Samantha. Her? No way. She didn't know an O'Connor.  
Sam had Speed on speed-dial. She heard him answer his phone.  
"Tim? It's me, Sam. That note... is the vic's name O'Connor?"


	4. Chapter III

**III**

"Yeah. Why?"  
Sam heard Speed's voice ask.  
"Because it said 'Samantha'. Just checking."  
"Okay"  
Sam ended the call and looked at the note. Yeah, she probably wasn't the only on in Miami whose name was Samantha.  
She put the note under the microscope. She paid most attention to the capital 'S' in Sam and the 't' in it. Both letters that varied the most in people's handwriting. She recognized the 'S' in Sam, but from what? Another case? Probably. But then it would be in the database. She'd check.  
Sam looked again at the 'S' and 't'. Male writer, mid thirties, criminal intention. Written with a fountain pen, Parker 51 Mark III. Sam looked at the pressure the writer put on the paper, the size of the letters and things that distinguished the handwriting from other writing. The paper was simple, recycled paper from a common notebook. Sam put all these 'trademarks' in the computer and waited. She waited. She better could grab a quick lunch, this would take a while.   
Sam walked down the outside steps and just wanted to cross the star when she felt something poking her in the back. She wanted to turn around but a deep, dark voice told her to turn right and walk.  
"Sure" Sam nodded. She could better do what he asked.  
Just around the corner of the lab, the man ordered her to stop. The thing that poked her in the back got taken away and Sam turned around.  
"Ja-" the man put his hand on her mouth.   
"No, no, no. Shhh. Yes, I killed that O'Connor-guy."  
Sam eyes looked at him, scared.  
"Oh Sam, don't be so scared. Yeah, I indeed wrote the note. Now go get back inside, here's my fountain pen, and rewrite the letter. You know how to. If you don't do it, you can easily imagine what can happen. You work at a Crime Lab."  
Sam could only nod and the man pushed her back toward the entrance door. Sam couldn't help it but she looked around, to see her attacker again. She knew him. That explained the red droplets in the sink. That explained why the steak knife had been missing yesterday. Oh damn.


	5. Chapter IV

**IV**

Sam looked at the 'suicide note' and an empty but identical sheet of recycled paper in front of her. She sighed.  
She couldn't do this.  
She couldn't betray the lab this way.  
She couldn't betray her friends, her colleagues.  
She couldn't betray her supervisor.   
She couldn't compromise the lab's integrity.  
She had to.  
The computer screen next to her showed the rap sheet of James Costero, who had turned up as the writer of the suicide note. Did she, Samantha Noir, have the authority to erase the rap sheet?  
Of course not. No. And she would never do that.  
Sam picked up the fountain pen James had given her and started copying the note.  
The finished copy she put back in the envelope which she sealed and Sam put her initials on the seal.  
Then she put the sealed envelope in the file and she filled in a report containing all the details she had found, but she wrote down that the database hadn't found a match. The original note she put in the paper shredder. Why did she have to do this?  
Sam knew the answer. She didn't want to die. And even though they spoke for the victims, they were already dead. She wasn't and didn't want to go yet too.  
Just when Sam was done, Horatio walked in.  
"Hey" she said, feeling slightly awkward. There was no way back, she had officially betrayed the lab.  
"Do you have the results on the O'Connor murder?" he asked her.  
"That suicide note?"  
"Uh-hu"  
"Yeah" Sam tried to ignore the awkward feeling and grabbed the report, which she gave Horatio."The writer was male, mid-thirties, with criminal intention. The killer, I suppose."  
Horatio opened the file and scanned the pages. "Nice job"  
Sam looked away. No nice job at all. "Hmm. Thanks"  
Horatio walked out.  
How could she have done this? How could she ever live with this?  
No, she shouldn't be this filled with self-pity. She should take some action.  
Sam walked out of the building, to one of the public phones. From there, she called Horatio's office. With a lowered voice, she spoke.  
"Lieutenant Caine, are you aware of the fact that you QD tech Samantha Noir tampered with the evidence in the O'Connor-case?"  
This should do it.


	6. Chapter V

**V**

Sam looked at the man who sat behind the desk in front of her. His calmness was an indication of his anger. No, not anger. Disappointment. Sam felt guilty, but relieved she was going to tell him. Or at least, an edited version of the story.  
"Miss Noir" he started. Not a good sign, since he always addressed her as Samantha. She knew she had made a terrible mistake, but what should she have done? There was no way of holding James back from killing people without getting killed yourself plus the people he wanted to kill anyway. Rather one less victim then. Sam decided to listen to Horatio first and then defend herself.  
"Miss Noir, I received a phone call in which was said you have tampered with evidence."  
Sam looked at him. "You did?" she only asked.  
"Yes, miss Noir, and I want to know the truth"  
Sam signed. "I'd just processed the note when I took a quick lunch break. When I wanted to cross the street, someone grabbed me from behind and dragged me away from where I stood. Around the corner, he told me to copy the note and destroy the original, or he would kill me – my fiancé and my best friends. I shredded the note, so maybe I'll be able to piece it all together…"  
Horatio slowly nodded and looked at Sam. "Did you recognize him?"  
Sam shook her head. "I wish I did. He scared the crap out of me. I'd better go tell IAB sergeant Stetler about this, right? Since IAB should investigate this all?"  
Sam indeed noticed Horatio's expression at the mention of Stetler's name.  
"You know what?" Horatio said, calmly. "Let me handle this. I'll look into it"  
"Oh, thanks!" Sam said relieved. "But – do I get a rap sheet for this?"  
"No. But you understand I'll have to fire you for this?"  
"I do. Right. Okay."  
"Samantha?"  
"Hmm?"  
"There's a man in New York City called Mac Taylor. Maybe you can get a fresh start up there, no James Costero around"

What was it that Horatio always seemed to know everything about the employees of his Lab? Sam asked herself, while being angry with herself for not having thought of starting all over again in a new city.


	7. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

With a shock, Sam woke up. It had been a year now since James had threatened her. In the mean time, she got indeed hired by Mac Taylor and she'd moved to New York, leaving everything that was her past behind. Especially James. He hadn't mind her leaving him, for he thought she was now totally out of law enforcement, so she wouldn't be any use for him anymore. She now worked as a Questioned Documents Laboratory Technician for the New York City Crime Lab. She had found an apartment in Queens, a nice and even quite large apartment.  
And now James had turned up again. In her dreams she dreamt about him, about the O'Connor-case. In real life he had too, telling her he had killed the wrong O'Connor-brother down in Miami. Sam wished she'd never been forced to leave Miami. But she was happy here too. She had new friends now. Her new colleagues had become her new family. She barely contacted her mom and brother, but that was partly because she didn't have the time. Her brother still had his own import/export business. He imported car parts and exported entire modified cars. Her mother still worked as an MD, she would so until people forced her to retire in half a decade. Sam was twenty-eight now and life finally was about to get back to how it was supposed to be. Although James would keep haunting her for the rest of her natural life. He would get twenty-years to life for killing the second O'Connor-brother up here in New York, but her nightmares of him would continue until death found her. Sam didn't want to think of that. She was twenty-eight now and should start settling down. She picked up the phone and called Zora, an old friend she knew from Miami but who also lived in New York now.  
"Hey Zora. Do you want to grab a cup of coffee?"

The End.

**A/N: **I'd really like reviews for this story…


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